Even though I had to come to terms with the fact that my parents would never provide me with a skating education, I did not become immediately discouraged. I passed my interest in garage skating on to my best high school friend. Like many children of our generation, Zoë also grew up with inexpensive roller skates in her toy collection. I also did not give up my miniscule ambition to own a skating dress, and I managed to impress this need on Zoë too.

We met on the first day of high school in our physical education class. She lived with her grandparents in an estate-like home on the seventh fairway of the Cambridge Hills golf course. I used to perform Ina Bauers in her garage. Although she liked to get away from her family, almost as much as I enjoyed escaping mine, we alternated where we spent afternoons, Friday nights and weekends. When Ice Castles was shown on television, I spent the night at her house and we watched it together. Zoë was the most wonderful friend I could have had during high school. We dreamed of adulthood and sharing an apartment together once we turned eighteen. This was actually a disaster when it finally happened.

Zoë’s love was horseback riding. She fantasized about being a champion dressage rider in the same manner as I wished I could be a great figure skater. Her grandfather did buy Zoë a horse and sent her to private lessons. Unfortunately, when Zoë should have graduated to a horse suitable for more advanced riding, her grandfather never invested in another one. He did convince her that he planned to purchase another horse, and she willingly allowed him to sell her original horse. When poor Zoë found an appropriate horse, her grandfather did not honor his commitment. She did take lessons on her coach’s horse, but eventually even that was eliminated. Her family refused to provide her with further training. Zoë was heartbroken and had bitter fights with her grandfather. When we were young women attending college, Zoë broke down crying once when she recalled having to give up horseback riding. I don’t know if she ever forgave her grandfather for selling her beloved horse and not replacing it with another one. Zoë and I understood each other’s anguish at being denied an opportunity to pursue our fondest ambitions during our youth.

While I love animals, I was never infatuated with horses. I did attend a dressage competition with Zoë when we were in ninth grade. I saw Zoë win a medal for her performance with her horse. Zoë’s interest in skating did not extend beyond skating in the garage. Because I liked skating, Zoë convinced her grandmother to buy her an inexpensive pair of vinyl skates so we could skate together. She never learned any moves other than skating backwards. However, Zoë continued to roller skate beyond high school. Long after inlines replaced traditional roller skates, she skated on quad skates along the beaches of Southern California, where she moved after college.

Since I did not receive a skating dress for Christmas, I devised an alternate method to acquire what I wanted. Zoë decided to share my interest in owning a skating dress. She doubted her family would buy her one of these frivolous leotards, but her grandmother was an excellent seamstress and would support investing in yard goods so Zoë could develop sewing skills. I had taken a sewing class in the 4H Club in Stockton and was ready to refresh my talent. During the spring of our freshman year in high school, my mother dropped Zoë and I off for the afternoon at the shopping mall. We planned to buy supplies to sew our own skating costumes. At the time when we were freshmen, the mall had two fabric shops. They were situated across from each other. We each bought the same skating dress pattern plus enough nylon-spandex fabric to make one of the outfits featured on the pattern envelope. Zoë’s material was turquoise and mine was purple. Wanting my dress to look special like a competition costume, I also selected some pink sequin trim to embellish my project.

We fastidiously prepared our patterns. When I spread out my fabric to cut the pieces, I realized I had not purchased enough yardage to make the long sleeved version. Disappointed, I settled for the view with shoulder straps. Since I was not a very accomplished seamstress, I sewed much of the outfit by hand to avoid errors. A leotard made of slippery stretch fabric was a difficult project for a beginner. The finished product looked rather attractive, from a distance. The rich purple color highlighted my facial features and the workmanship was reasonable, considering my limited experience. With the dress constructed, I decided what to do with the strung sequins. I hand stitched them around the waistline. Since the sequins were not affixed to elastic, they inhibited the stretch of the garment and I could no longer pull it over my hips. Only novices make that type of foolish mistake. I had to remove the trim and sew it to the straps instead.

Zoë abandoned her project and allowed her grandmother to do a professional quality job on it. Her dress appeared as though it had been purchased from a pro shop, whereas, mine looked homemade. We wore those dresses with their wonderful circular skirts for garage skating and occasional trips to the roller rink. I tried to watch my skirt flare as I spun on my crappy skates. It was a delightful sensation and I felt like a real figure skater.

My sister, Carole, maintained enough interest in skating to also desire a skating costume, though she rarely skated. After seeing my handcrafted skating creation, she decided that she wanted one. Carole developed no interest in sewing and has never sewn a stitch in her life. Carole was a more enterprising problem-solver. She found out through a friend whose mother worked in a local clothing shop that the boutique had exercise apparel on sale. Among the exercise apparel were two short wrap skirts. Carole spent a few dollars of her Christmas money on the red skirt and I bought the blue one. Carole wore hers at least once as a Halloween costume while I skated in mine in the garage.

That event marked the end of my sister’s interest in skating. She abandoned whatever dreams and interests she possessed as a child to enter the competitive world of adulthood. Carole studied every evening until midnight trying to earn the grades that would grant her acceptance into medical school. As a medical student, Carole skated once in Rockefeller Center with a boyfriend. To my knowledge, she never skated again.

After she moved on to more serious pursuits, I inherited Carole’s red skating skirt. I kept my purple skating dress for many years. It finally vanished when I moved away from home to go to graduate school. I still have one of our patterns, but most of the pieces are missing. However, tucked away in a drawer, I have kept the two skimpy skirts that recall the dreams my sister and I shared as children.

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